The Golden State Warriors beat the Boston Celtics 104-94 on Monday night for a 3-2 lead in the NBA Finals. The Warriors will have a chance to win their fourth NBA championship in eight seasons with a decisive Game 6 win in Boston on Thursday.
One game after scoring 43 points for Golden State, Stephen Curry had only 16 points and went 0-for-9 from three-point range. Curry’s failure to make a three-pointer ended his league-leading streak of 233 consecutive regular season and postseason games with at least one made three-pointer. It was also the first time in his 13-year NBA career that he failed to make at least one in a playoff game.
Curry did add eight assists as his teammates picked up his usual scoring load. Andrew Wiggins scored 26 points and 13 rebounds, while Klay Thompson scored 21. Golden State struggled from three-point range as a team, making 9-of-40 from beyond the arc.
The rest of the Warriors’ supporting cast was effective, with Gary Payton II contributing 15 points and Jordan Poole scoring 14.
Additionally, the win gives the experienced trio of Curry, Thompson, and Draymond Green their 20th all-time NBA Finals win as a collective. That mark eclipses the San Antonio Spurs’ trio of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker for the most collective Finals wins in the last 50 years.
Golden State’s collective defense impressed as well, as they held Boston to 41.3% shooting overall and 26.7% shooting in the fourth quarter.
The Celtics lost consecutive games for the first time this postseason. Jayson Tatum scored 27 points and had 10 rebounds, while Marcus Smart overcame a slow start to finish with 20 points. Jaylen Brown started the game 2-for-11 and finished with 18 points on 5-of-18 shooting, missing all five of his three-point tries.
Boston struggled from deep, as they missed their first eight three-point attempts before Tatum made the team’s first with 4:34 remaining before halftime.
However, the Celtics reversed roles and owned the third quarter that Golden State has become known for dominating. The Celtics trailed 51-39 at halftime before exploding for 35 points in the third.
Al Horford hit a three-pointer with 6:28 left in the period that gave the Celtics a 58-55 lead. Boston made eight consecutive three-pointers in the third, finishing 11-of-32 from deep overall.
The Celtics seemed poise to take a narrow lead into the fourth quarter, but Poole had other plans for Golden State. He knocked down a 33-foot three-pointer from the left wing to beat the third-quarter buzzer, and the Warriors took a 75-74 lead into the final quarter.
Sloppy play doomed Boston in the fourth. Smart was whistled for a technical and an offensive foul in the span of one second early in the quarter, swinging momentum in Golden State’s favor. The Celtics committed 18 turnovers, which the Warriors turned into 22 points.
The Celtics must now win Game 6 at home for the series to return to the Bay Area for a winner-take-all Game 7 on Sunday. So far, all five games in the series have been decided by 10 or more points.
